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. 2020 Mar;26(3):537-549.
doi: 10.1007/s12298-020-00768-4. Epub 2020 Feb 8.

Unraveling salinity stress responses in ancestral and neglected wheat species at early growth stage: A baseline for utilization in future wheat improvement programs

Jafar Ahmadi  1 , Alireza Pour-Aboughadareh  2 , Sedigheh Fabriki Ourang  1 , Pezhman Khalili  1 , Peter Poczai  3   4
Affiliations

Unraveling salinity stress responses in ancestral and neglected wheat species at early growth stage: A baseline for utilization in future wheat improvement programs

Jafar Ahmadi et al. Physiol Mol Biol Plants. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

In this study, we analyzed the behavior of several neglected, ancestral, and domesticated wheat genotypes, including Ae. triuncialis, Ae. neglecta, Ae. caudata, Ae. umbellulata, Ae. tauschii, Ae. speltoides, T. boeoticum, T. urartu, T. durum, and T. aestivum under control and salinity stress to assess the mechanisms involved in salinity tolerance. Physiological and biochemical traits including root/shoot biomasses, root/shoot ion concentrations, activity of antioxidant enzymes APX, SOD, and GXP, and the relative expression of TaHKT1;5, TaSOS1, APX, GXP, and MnSOD genes were measured. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant effects of the salinity treatments and genotypes for all evaluated traits. Salinity stress (350 mM NaCl) significantly decreased root/shoot biomasses, K+ concentration in root/shoot, and root/shoot K+/Na+ ratios. In contrast, salinity stress significantly increased Na+ concentration in root and shoot, activity of antioxidant enzymes (APX, SOD, and GPX) and relative expression of salt tolerance-related genes (TaHKT1;5, TaSOS1, APX, GPX, and MnSOD). Based on heat map and principal component analysis, the relationships among physiological traits and relative expression of salt-responsive genes were investigated. Remarkably, we observed a significant association between the relative expression of TaHKT1;5 with root K+ concentration and K+/Na+ ratio and with TaSOS1. Taken together, our study revealed that two neglected (Ae. triuncialis) and ancestral (Ae. tauschii) wheat genotypes responded better to salinity stress than other genotypes. Further molecular tasks are therefore essential to specify the pathways linked with salinity tolerance in these genotypes.

Keywords: Antioxidant enzymes; Na+ transporter genes; Salt tolerance; Wild relatives of wheat.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The means of shoot fresh weight (a), shoot dry weight (b), root fresh weight (c), root dry weight (d), leaf Na+ concentration (e), leaf K+ concentration (f), root Na+ concentration (g), and root K+ concentration in different neglected, ancestral, and domesticated wheat genotypes under control and salinity stress conditions. TA, T. aestivum; TD, T. durum; TU, T. urartu; TB, T. boeoticum; AU, Ae. umbellulata; AT, Ae. tauschii; AS, Ae. speltoides; AC, Ae. cylindrica; AN, Ae. neglecta; AC, Ae. caudata; Atr, Ae. triuncialis; TC, Tolerant control variety; SC, Sensitive control variety
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The means of K+/Na+ ratio of root (a) and leaf (b) in different neglected, ancestral, and domesticated wheat genotypes under control and salinity stress conditions. TA, T. aestivum; TD, T. durum; TU, T. urartu; TB, T. boeoticum; AU, Ae. umbellulata; AT, Ae. tauschii; AS, Ae. speltoides; AC, Ae. cylindrica; AN, Ae. neglecta; AC, Ae. caudata; Atr, Ae. triuncialis; TC, tolerant control variety; SC, sensitive control variety
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The means of ascorbate peroxidase activity (Unit mg protein−1) (a), guaiacol peroxidase activity (Unit mg protein−1) (b), superoxide dismutase activity (Unit mg protein−1) (c), the mean fold-change of APX gene expression (d), the mean fold-change of GPX gene expression (e), and the mean fold-change MnSOD gene expression (f) in different neglected, ancestral, and domesticated wheat genotypes under control and salinity stress conditions. TA, T. aestivum; TD, T. durum; TU, T. urartu; TB, T. boeoticum; AU, Ae. umbellulata; AT, Ae. tauschii; AS, Ae. speltoides; AC, Ae. cylindrica; AN, Ae. neglecta; AC, Ae. caudata; Atr, Ae. triuncialis; TC, tolerant control variety; SC, sensitive control variety
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Mean fold-change of TaHKT1;5 gene expression (a) and mean fold-change of TaSOS1 gene expression (b) in different neglected, ancestral, and domesticated wheat genotypes under control and salinity stress conditions. TA, T. aestivum; TD, T. durum; TU, T. urartu; TB, T. boeoticum; AU, Ae. umbellulata; AT, Ae. tauschii; AS, Ae. speltoides; AC, Ae. cylindrica; AN, Ae. neglecta; AC, Ae. caudata; Atr, Ae. triuncialis; TC, tolerant control variety; SC, sensitive control variety
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Heatmap indicating association among different physiological traits, biochemical activities, and relative expression of studied genes under salinity stress (350 mM NaCl) condition (a). The biplot rendered is based on the first two components (PC1 and PC2) for physiological and biochemical-related traits and relative expression of the studied genes in neglected, ancestral, and domesticated wheat genotypes under salinity stress (350 mM NaCl) condition (b). SFW, shoot fresh weight; RFW, root fresh weight; SDW, shoot dry weight; RDW, root dry weight; LN, leaf Na+ concentration; LK, leaf K+ concentration; RN, root Na+ concentration; root K+ concentration; LKN, K+/Na+ ratio of leaf; RKN, K+/Na+ ratio of root; APX activity, ascorbate peroxidase activity; GPX activity, guaiacol peroxidase activity; SOD activity, superoxide dismutase activity; APX gene, APX gene expression; GPX gene, GPX gene expression; SOD gene, MnSOD gene expression, SOS1 gene, TaSOS1 gene expression; TaHKT1;5 gene, TaHKT1;5 TaHKT1;5 gene
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